Pigs Make Me Sneeze! An Elephant & Piggie Book

Pigs Make Me Sneeze! An Elephant & Piggie Book. Written and Illustrated by Mo Willems. 2009. Hyperion Books for Children, New York. First Edition. ISBN 9781423114116. 57 pages. $8.99. Pre-school to 2nd Grade (Ages 2-8).

Gerald the Elephant and Piggie’s friendship is threatened by Gerald’s raging sneeze attacks that send Piggie flying across the pages in Mo Willems’ fantastic easy reader. The action begins on the front endpages with Gerald in funny sneezing positions, and continues with Gerald’s concern that he could be allergic to his best friend. Piggie tries to help (“What if you tried to sneeze more softly?”) but eventually has to run for cover under a helmet after being bowled over by Gerald’s fits. After seeking the help of Doctor Cat, Gerald happily learns that he has a cold and shares the good news with Piggie. In a funny twist, Piggie is surrounded by a mountain of used tissues, mimicking Gerald’s earlier ill condition from the cover illustration.

With no environment to speak of except for ample white space, this book’s design expertly highlights the characters and their relationship. The text is entirely spoken by the characters in speech bubbles that match the color of the speaker, leaving no room for confusion about who is doing the talking. The large typeface changes in size and font when emphasizing drama or volume. Gerald’s sneezes in particular are extremely funny; the font turns into a blocky, shaky line and draws out the “Ah” in “Ah-Choo!” as well as adding extra exclamation points. Through the use of sparse illustration, Willems manages to create vibrant, action-packed scenes and inventive expressions for Gerald and Piggie to keep children’s visual interest without being too busy or confusing. The only thing confusing about this book is why the elephant gets a name but the pig doesn’t!

Despite its 57 pages, beginning readers will find this a quick read because several pages contain only one word or short sentence. A controlled vocabulary filled with simple sight words will have kids memorizing the story after several readings. The dialogue format of the text invites readers to make up character’s voices and even read aloud with a partner. With its comic characters and minimal yet creative illustrations, I predict Pigs Make Me Sneeze! and the other books in the series will be a favorite among fans of Dr. Seuss and other iconic author/illustrators.